‘Get rugby trolls to training, make them face stars’
THE mother of Wales rugby star Callum Sheedy says the “idiots” who abused her son’s team-mate, Liam Williams, after the defeat to France should be invited to a training session – and made to face the players.
Williams was on the end of appalling social media abuse after the dramatic 32-30 defeat at the hands of France last Saturday, having been sinbinned shortly before his side surrendered a 10-point lead during the latter stages of a pulsating encounter in Paris.
The result ended hopes of a Grand Slam for Wayne Pivac’s men, with Williams singled out for abuse from a small section of fans on social media.
The WRU published a handful of messages received by the Scarlets full-back in their condemnation of the abuse, with the incident once again shining a light on the debate about what can be done to combat abuse online.
Speaking to BBC Radio Wales yesterday, Jacqui Sheedy – mum of Cardiff-born fly-half Callum – gave her take on the sorry episode . . . and had a rather novel solution.
“It’s dreadful because as a parent you fully understand, you’re with them every step of the way and you see what goes in,” she said.
“The work they put in, the lifestyle they lead, the discipline.
“My answer to this would be to invite these idiots to a training session and let’s see how big and tough they are there.
“If the nation feels low, I’m sure we can times that by a million in terms of how the players feel.
“But sport’s a crazy thing, isn’t it? There’s so many highs and so many lows and you’ve got to almost just take it on the chin.
“It’s easy to say, but I don’t know what must have been going through their minds when that final whistle went.”
Former Wales star Shane Williams is one of the latest figures within the game to condemn the abuse, adding that more needs to be done to combat social media trolls.
“These keyboard warriors that sit behind their computers and phones doing this, there’s never any repercussions,” he said.
“They get told ‘it’s wrong, you shouldn’t be saying that’ and that’s it
– and I’ve had it before in my rugby career.
“It was not as bad (when I played) as it is now, because we didn’t have Twitter and Instagram, but I think it’s an absolute disgrace some of the abuse these players have had.
“Liam Williams and the rest of that squad put their heart and soul into that match, they gave absolutely everything for 80 minutes.
“We talk about online abuse and people safeguarding their lives. However, these keyboard warriors never have any repercussions.”
As reported in yesterday’s paper, Liam Williams’ fiancée, Sophie Harries, labelled the abuse “disgraceful and cowardly”.
In their own condemnation of the incident, the WRU said: “The players are proud to represent their country and their jersey.
“The abuse players are receiving has to stop.
“In order to help drive the call for change, the players want to highlight the amount of abuse and bile that circulates on social media platforms. We value our fans’ support in the matter.”
Meanwhile, Year 5 pupils at Penywaun Primary in Aberdare did their bit to offer some positivity.
A tweet, complete with handwritten messages from pupils, was shared by the account of teacher “Mrs Higgins”, who said: “Today Year 5 spent the afternoon writing positive tweets to
“@SanjayWills. We hope we have cheered you up! @WelshRugbyUnion @scarlets_rugby #teachkindness #FullTimeAbuse”
One such message read: “You did well on Saturday, keep it up. Just ignore those mean comments!
“And please don’t be sad or upset. You are a good player that’s the end of story. One of them called you a wet wipe and that’s not nice.
“So please play more rugby. The only thing that matters is that you’re happy.”